What Yoga Pose are You?

(excerpt from Yoga Journal)

I thought this would be fun....let me know what pose YOU are!



Every yogi, no matter how much or how little experience you have with yoga, has one: one particular pose you love above all others. It's the pose that feels most like home, and the one you keep wishing the teacher would call out next.

Here's a guide to what a propensity for a certain pose might have to say about you.

Tree Pose

You’re grounded but you enjoy testing your limits. This is often a favorite pose of newer yogis–it's a first foray into challenging balancing poses and when you nail it, it feels effortless. If you wobble more than you stand still in this pose, focus on feeling your connection to the earth by rooting down through the big toe mound of your standing foot and the sole of the foot that's pressing in to your inner thigh. If you're pretty stable here, prioritize lifting your ribcage and fingertips up as high as you can.

Backbends

Whether you're a wheel junkie or just love lying down with your ribcage draped over a rolled up blanket, a propensity toward backbends indicates an open heart, loving nature, and excitement about the future. Be careful that your exuberance doesn’t lead to injury—if your quads, abdomen, chest and shoulders aren't open in your backbends, you could tweak your back. Translated to daily life, if you aren't as flexible as you are strong, you could wind up with too much on your shoulders.

Forward bends

Sitting or standing, a love of folding forward indicates that you are introspective and not afraid to let yourself get quiet so you can hear you own thoughts. Forward bending is also associated with looking to the past—be sure you don’t spend so much time folding forward that you forget to be open to the present or anticipate the future.

Revolved standing poses

You're not afraid to take a bite out of the cookie of life. You've got a lot going on, and yet it all seems to work because you know that it takes a delicate balance of hard work and surrender to keep it all together. Just remember to treat yourself to rest and a quiet practice of restorative poses to keep your batteries charged.

Headstand

You're interested in building your intuition and learning how to maintain a sense of trust in the face of a scary situation. You're also not afraid of a challenge. Like handstand fans, you're open to seeing things from multiple points of view. Your challenge is to learn how to find your center even when your world is turned upside down.

Handstand

You're a thrill seeker and yet know how to find balance in the midst of chaos. Or, at least, you’re working your way toward it. You also aren't afraid to look at things from a different vantage point from the average soul. The trick for you is to balance your exuberance with grace, and to learn how to fall softly for those times when your enthusiasm leads you into a precarious position.

Cobbler's pose, pigeon pose, and/or split pose

You're not intimidated by a little discomfort and crave the release that comes from working your edges. You also tolerate emotionally charged situations well – the hips are often storehouses for unprocessed emotions, and many people shy away from these poses because they aren't comfortable with accessing the hidden feelings they may have. Just remember that boundaries are healthy. You don't want to overextend yourself, making you either overly vulnerable emotionally or prone to muscle pulls physically.

Corpse pose

You are likely tired, over-scheduled, and craving some profound rest. And what’s so wrong about that? Our society may prize people who can keep up a furious pace, but some part of you knows that there's a time and a place for stillness, quiet, and reflection. Indulge in a few moments of rest each day, always keeping in mind that the true challenge of the pose is to allow your mind to quiet without falling asleep or planning what you're going to have for dinner.


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Be Joyous

For some, the holiday season is a time of joy, family and celebration. For others, this is a time of profound sadness — wrought with pain and suffering from failed relationships, financial challenges, job dissatisfaction and self-worth issues. Today I want to share a tool to help you or someone you love transform feelings of depression by looking at circumstances as gifts.

On the other side of depression is expression. I believe the reason each of us is here is to express our feelings, thoughts and talents — to share our gifts in service to humanity — in a way that moves us forward, beyond limited thinking and choices that do not serve us. This is where we can move from fear to faith, from doubt to trust, and from pain to power.

Let go of toxic energy
As this year comes to an end, it is the perfect opportunity to release any unwanted experiences, thoughts or belief systems that no longer serve. It feels to me like cleaning out a storage room that is holding broken and restrictive energy. Whatever you are holding onto that is keeping you small, now is the time to let it go! Peace is here. Love is available. Joy is around the corner. Harmony is surrounding you. Light is expressing as your very life. Take advantage of this life you have been given, and dare to step out into a field of freedom that is your divine inheritance.

Take a moment to think about how you have grown, the unexpected gifts you have been given, and the simple ways you have been shown that you make a difference. You are powerful. Shine your light this holiday season. Many await your beauty. Grace is available right at this very moment to guide you to freedom and peace.

Happy holidays to you! I am so grateful that we have had the opportunity to share time together this year!

Take a moment to remember this:
Today, I let go of anything that will not support my peace. I proclaim that my presence is the gift, and it blesses all who experience me. I am joyous and ready to express love and light in every situation.

(excerpt from yogablog)

My Birthday wants to THANK YOU!

What a special treat to actually get a birthday present that you want AND that can generate such happiness to so many others!

WHAT DID WE GET?

Well THANK YOU for my "party" this morning and to those of you who donated funds to our Hot Yoga House Foundation! With these fund we are able to share hot yoga with people who cannot afford it right now. Each of you has gotten something from your mat that you may be didn't expect and want others to share in that too.....I couldn't have asked for anything more!

The people who are able to come to yoga because of your generosity are speechless and would tell you that they have been blessed beyond measure!

Thank you....I don't deserve such wonderful people in my life but I am sure glad I have you!